Broken Bird
by Arthur97
Summary: Robin sacrificed himself to destroy Grima once and for all, but what if when he came back, he wasn't quite the same? What if he was broken?
1. Guilt

A lone figure on horseback could be seen traveling the old country road. The rider was female, garbed in mostly blue, and had hair that was a stunning cerulean; not that anyone could tell on the dark forested road. She was armed and bore a regal disposition, however; only a select few knew her true identity, and that was exactly how she wanted it.

The lone rider was a war hero from both the Valmese conflict as well as the war against Grima, but the public had no idea of her full contributions to the conflict. For she had led a group of survivors from a ruined future in order to save a doomed past, but that was on a need to know basis. They had succeeded in their mission though, but the cost had been high.

Lucina shook her head trying to shake the unpleasant memories from her mind, but it was no use. She could almost feel the wind rushing past her as she stood on dragon's back once again.

 _She deflected the axe of an incoming warrior and ran him through. The Shepherds were making quick work of the Grimleal, but their sheer numbers were becoming problematic. However, they simply had to clear a path for her father to get a shot at Grima; which they had done with relative ease thanks in part to their tactician._

 _She was worried for her father, but she knew that he could take care of himself. Still, she wished that she could be with him; not only to protect her father, but also to see the being responsible for so much of her suffering fall. She did not get that chance though, as Robin had paired her with her mother to clear a path while he backed up Chrom._

 _Lucina wanted to be there herself; it was her battle as she saw it after all. Regardless, she had learned better than to second guess their tactician. She took out an axe man that had gotten a little too close to her mother when she felt Grima tremble._

 _She looked to see her father standing triumphantly over a defeated Grima, about to seal the dragon away. Before he could bring his sword down though, he was interrupted by a blast of wind magic knocking the air out of him. At first she started to panic thinking that Grima had been faking, but then she noticed Robin somberly walking towards them with his hand gripping a wind tome and her panic grew while intertwining with rage. Rage that he had betrayed her father, the Shepherds, the world!_

 _She didn't hesitate, she charged for them, cutting down anything that got in her way; leaving her mother with Cynthia and Gerome as she pressed on. She had come too far to lose now._

 _Chrom was picking himself up as Lucina swiftly approached as fast as she could; he seemed fine except that he was blocked off by a barrier of magic surrounding Robin and Grima. Who had erected it, Lucina did not know, but she was determined to get through it whatever it took._

 _By the time she was half way to the barrier, her father had stopped trying to break through and instead was pleading something about there being "another way" with Robin, but she couldn't make out most of their conversation over sound the battle and howling wind._

 _That was when it happened. Robin seemed to have said something that brought a look to the dragon's stolen face that Lucina had never thought she would see: true fear. Robin struck the beast with a blast of dark energy in a rather unceremonious way, but that one attack would forever change the course of the world. Grima let out a roar of pain before the body that had once belonged to a Robin long past simply disintegrated and the dragon was in what appeared to be death throes._

 _Lucina stopped in her tracks; she didn't know what to think. However, she soon noticed that Robin himself seemed to be slowly disappearing._

 _"No," she whispered before she started sprinting once more. She did not think, she just ran; even she was not sure why she did. When she finally reached them though, he was barely hanging on. He turned his attention away from Chrom and towards her, and he smiled. He gave one last feeble smile before fading away, fate unknown._

The rest was a blur to Lucina. They had been warped by Naga back to Origin Peak. Later Naga revealed to the Shepherds what had happened. How that Robin sacrificed himself to kill Grima once and for all, and that there was a minimal chance of survival, but it was minimal. Robin was honored as a hero upon the Shepherds return to Ylisstol.

The Shepherds went their own ways, each promising to keep looking for Robin. Lucina for her part had left with no fanfare. She did not want to encroach on the baby Lucina's life any more than she already had, nor did she want to cause any problems for her father. With no hope of returning to her time, she had determined that she would find Robin and return him to his friends and surrogate family.

It had been over eight months since his disappearance, and she was beginning to doubt her new mission. She wondered why he wouldn't have returned to Ylisstol had he survived. She had made theories during her time alone as her mind drifted. Theories such as that perhaps he lost his memory again, or that he felt ashamed for his ties to Grima and refused to come back.

Regardless, she was determined to find him because she felt responsible for him sacrificing himself. She felt like confronting him after the incident at Plegia Castle combined with what happened at the Dragon's Table pushed him to blame himself. Adding to that was the fact that she had went as far as to think that he was betraying them when, in fact; he was doing just the opposite. In short, she felt she owed him, at least; that is what she told herself at least, and she would not rest until she found him and repaid her debt.

 **A/N: My first foray into this pair! Definitely one of my favorites, if not the favorite. I think this should be something different so hopefully I can do it justice. Also, I am open to suggestions after I get the plot rolling in the next chapter or two. Let me know what you think, and yes Robin will be in the next one.**


	2. Broken

Lucina had camped for the night and was now making her way to a small village far off of the beaten path, but the high elevation combined with the increasingly colder days made for a bitingly cold ride that her cloak was fighting a losing battle to keep at bay. She glanced at her saddle bag for a moment as she considered one particular item contained within and how she came into possession of it.

 _Lucina stood apart from the others after Naga had warped them back to safety. They were saying hopeful remarks full of both optimism and nostalgia about their tactician, but she was not feeling very optimistic. She had thought the man a traitor when he was in actuality doing what none of them could do, and worse than that she felt like she had pushed him into doing it._

 _It was true that what he did made the most sense logically, but that did not mean that she had to like the cost. Really she should be overjoyed at the demise of her tormentor; if only she did not feel so guilty! As she was thinking, something caught her eye as it gently floated down onto_ _an outcropping below her._

 _Curious and eager for a distraction, the princess started to make her way down to the dark object as it was hung on rock. She picked it up to reveal a familiar coat which was in remarkably good condition. Staring at the cloak for what felt like an eternity, Lucina made up her mind in that instance that she would repay her debt to the man who owned the coat. She would find him and bring him back where he belonged before she vanished entirely from Shepherds. She would bring him home._

She had carried that coat with her during her quest, but she never wore it. It just did not feel right to her. It was tempting on especially cold nights, but she never broke; the cloak always remained safely tucked away within her saddlebag like a personal treasure.

It was around noon by the time Lucina arrived at the small village. It was far off of the beaten path, which meant that if Robin had been there they may not have known who he was and reports of strange people were unlikely to get very far very fast. The village's isolation gave her hope that someone would at least know of the tactician's whereabouts.

Her hope soon started to fade, however, as the townspeople did not seem to know anything about the tactician. She asked around for about an hour before deciding that he was not there; an hour was plenty of time to check such a small village after all. She was about to give up her questioning when a friendly looking old lady called out to her.

"Excuse me, miss," she started, "I couldn't help but overhear you asking around about your friend. A while back I took in a stranger that seems to fit your description of him."

"How long ago?" Lucina was careful not to get her hopes up.

"Not sure, let's see," she started to mumble to herself before answering, "I'd say it was about eight months ago."

"Take me to him," Lucina said a little more forcefully than was required, but the old lady just chuckled before complying. She led Lucina to the outskirts of the town where an old farmhouse stood. The lady opened the door to be greeted by several children.

"Hi, granny!"

"Who's the strange lady?"

"Is she staying here too?"

"Hush now!" The lady rebuked, "Where are your manners?"

"Sorry," they said in unison with pouts adorning their young faces.

"Good, now don't you have chores to be doing?" the children got the message and went about doing their chores. Satisfied that the kids would not disturb them further, the lady turned to Lucina, "Sorry about that, kids these days."

"It is alright," Lucina did not want to be rude, but she would have much preferred that she got to the point.

"I take care of those who don't have anyone else," the lady explained, "Guess that's why I took in your friend. It's the strangest thing," the lady got up and opened the door to the side room, "the lad just wandered up one day, stark naked and babbling nonsense."

Lucina walked in and fought back a gasp as she saw the man who had brought conquerors to their knees and slain the Fell Dragon curled up in the corner of a dark farmhouse room. Once he noticed the lady, he started backing up into the wall while holding his hands up in defense while stammering out nonsense. It was almost too much for the princess to take in.

"It's always like this," the lady sighed, "He never lets anyone get close. If they do, this happens. I wish there was more I could do for the lad, but I don't know what else to do."

Lucina started to ease toward the tactician despite the lady's protests. As she got closer, Robin's reaction became worse and more panicked.

"Robin…" Lucina almost whispered, but Robin seemed to hear her anyways and ceased his struggle. He looked at the princess and she returned his gaze. They stared at each other for a while as the lady looked on in astonishment. Eventually Lucina reached out her hand which Robin eyed for a moment as if unsure of what to do. He reached for her had after a while, but he hesitated right before their hands made contact as if he was afraid that she was just some cruel illusion. However, he did eventually grab her hand and Lucina pulled the man to his feet.

"Remarkable," the lady commented in awe, but her voice caused Robin to flinch in fear.

"Easy now," Lucina tried to prevent him from having another panic attack. Once she got his nerves under control, she addressed the lady. "I need to bring this man home."

"I suppose that would be best. In these eight months I've never seen him let someone get so close. He needs to be with people he knows; his family."

"Thank you," Lucina nodded before a thought crossed her mind, "I don't believe I ever got your name."

"They all call me Granny Abigail."

"Well, Granny Abigail, I thank you for all you have done," what she did not mention was that she intended to tell her father of her help, and that he would likely have her lavishly rewarded as was his nature.

"No thanks necessary," she waved her off, "I just hope that your friend gets better.

"As do I…"

After much coaxing, Lucina finally convinced Robin to get on her horse. It was astonishing to see the famed master strategist terrified of a horse, and Lucina could not help but feel responsible for his current state. She would deliver him to Ylisstol; what else could she do? The master tactician of Yllisse was a broken man now.

 **A/N: So there it is. Some have mentioned that they think the pairing is overdone, but it's what I like so it's what I'm writing. I've really liked this pair for years now so I didn't do it to get cheap views.**

 **With that said, this story, in less than a day, already has more followers than my other story got in a month. Maybe it's the communities…**

 **Anyways, like I said before, I am open to ideas. I think that this is a fairly different idea so hopefully it will go well.**

 **Oh, and heads up, Chrom is married to Sumia. Really the best choice for Chrom in my opinion, but hey at least Chrom shows up next chapter! (Not in a flashback)**


	3. Home

The duo had been making progress toward Ylisstol, but it was slower than Lucina would have liked. Robin was terrified at almost everything they came across, especially people. Even the friendliest of travelers would send him into a panic. Lucina would quickly apologize and lead Robin away to calm him down. She did not like how routine that was becoming to her, but it was bound to become more and more common the closer they got to the capitol. She still was not entirely sure if she could get him to the castle through the bustling city.

On one particularly cold night Lucina had decided to build a fire. That turned out to be a mistake as Robin was sent into a frenzy by the flame. The effect was so strong that the usual methods of calming were not helping. Even with the fire dowsed, he was completely unresponsive as he kept muttering incoherent gibberish to himself. Lucina was not sure what to do; she certainly was not qualified for this. She could only think of one thing to do.

With another glance at the former strategist's face, she made up her mind. She opened her saddlebag and, for the first time since placing it in there, removed the tactician's coat. She held it in front of the man for several seconds before he noticed it. Once he did, he fell completely silent and still, just staring at it. He gently reached out and rubbed his hand on the fabric as if to make sure that it was really there. Lucina gestured for him to take it, which he did with some hesitation. He did not seem to remember how to put it on though so Lucina helped him. He was a little afraid of the movement at first, but she reassured him that she was trying to help.

"There," she said as she stepped back to see the man in his signature coat once again. For his part, he did not seem to know what to make of it as he stared at it as he wore it, but he seemed to decide that he liked it since he smiled back to the princess.

Lucina smiled as well. In that moment it looked as if there was hope that the man they all knew was still in there; hope that he could be mended.

* * *

Their travels went about as well as could be expected, but Lucina managed to finally get him to the capitol. The problem lay, however, in actually getting him to the castle. Fortunately, she was not stranger to sneaking around.

With the cover of darkness Lucina led the tactician through the empty streets of Ylisstol; following the same route that she had followed almost three years prior when she halted the assassination of Exalt Emmeryn. That was a truly fateful night.

It was the night that her cover was partially blown, though, from his reaction, Lucina wondered if Robin already knew. Then again, he may have just been smirking at how "gracefully" her father had handled the situation. Her father was many things, but eloquent was certainly not one of them.

It took her longer to get to the castle than it did three years ago, but she thought she had made good time considering the circumstances. Using secret passages only known to a select few, she was able to navigate her traveling companion into the castle courtyard with minimal human interaction.

After one nearly disastrous run in with a guard, the duo was on their way to meeting with Chrom. It was fortunate that the guard seemed to recognize Robin, but the fact that Chrom made sure that both Lucina and Robin were to be immediately permitted to see him did not hurt.

Once Chrom had received word of their arrival, he ordered the guards to take them to the smaller informal dining room of the castle; he planned to meet them there. He arrived shortly after the duo and quickly dismissed the guards before turning to eye the two. His brow rose as he noticed that Robin looked especially frightful and Lucina was busy trying to calm him down.

After calming him down, Lucina approached her father, "Father, we need to talk."

"Apparently," he noted that Robin looked even tenser after Lucina started to converse with him. "It's good to see you too, old friend; you had us worried," he said with a smile which fell from his face after he saw the man cower in fear at his voice.

"It appears that, while Robin survived his sacrifice, his mind has been…broken," Lucina explained, "He doesn't do well with people especially."

"He seems fine with you," Chrom observed as he started to take in what his daughter had told him.

"Perhaps it is because he knew me. He did not take well to me at first; try showing him who you are."

"Alright," he nodded before slowly approaching the tactician. As expected, he started to cower in fear like he did with Lucina, however, he did not respond as quickly to Chrom. However, he did eventually calm down and eyed the Exalt with a certain trepidation. Chrom decided to help him up after he had calmed down, but his offered hand sent him into another attack. His sudden outburst caused Chrom to recoil as Lucina moved in somewhat used to the outbursts and calmed him down.

"What in the world is going on in here?" Sumia asked as she walked in to find the odd scene. She paused upon seeing just who was in the corner, "Lucina! It's good to see you, and who's your…Robin?" She looked to Chrom, "What's going on."

"I'm not entirely sure myself," he replied as he looked at the scene unfolding. Lucina got the tactician calm once again and attempted to reintroduce her parents to him, slowly. They eventually managed to get him to let them get close, but he still kept his distance. Regardless, he was making progress.

"I will leave him in your care then," Lucina told her parents after she was confident that Robin would accept them.

"What?" Sumia turned her attention from the tactician to her daughter, "You're already leaving? You just got here!"

"I know mother, but we've been over this."

"We can work around it," her mother pleaded, "I know your father agrees."

"She's right, Lucina," Chrom affirmed as he slid his arm around his wife.

"I just…refuse to interfere any more than I have to. I should go now," she started to leave before they could object, but she noticed that she had a shadow. "No, Robin, you need to stay. You're home now."

He would not relent, however, and grabbed her by the arm when she tried to leave. She turned to face him again, "I need to go," she pleaded, but he would not let go.

"Looks like we're not the only ones who want you to stay," Sumia said as they caught up to them, "Besides, he seems the most adjusted to you. Won't you stay? At least until Robin is back to himself."

Lucina looked at her mother before turning her gaze to the tactician. He was like a small child clinging to what little familiarity he had left in the world. His gaze was fearful; it seemed like the only emotion he had left at times. However, she also knew that it could be a very long time until he was back to his old self, if ever.

"Fine," she relented to the glee of her mother, "But we should get him looked at as soon as possible."

"Of course," her mother replied delightfully, "You can take Robin to his room, maybe it will help him. Then ask the guards and they can show you to your own room."

"You kept a room for me?"

"Of course, dear. You're our daughter."

After the two were out of earshot, Sumia turned and lightly smacked Chrom on his shoulder.

"Hey, what was that for?" he recoiled from her mock blow.

"For not telling me that Lucina and Robin were here!"

"I sent for you."

"But you didn't say that is was so important."

"Wait, so me calling for you isn't important?"

She refused to answer him and simply kept on walking back to their chambers causing him to give chase, though he could not help but think of the previous events. He was elated that his daughter and best friend where back, but he was also concerned for his friend's mental state. He was ill equipped to handle such a situation, but perhaps he knew someone who could help though.

 **A/N: I was going to put in a flashback to the assassination attempt, but I didn't think it really added anything.**

 **To be honest, I'm not really sure about how I portrayed Chrom in this chapter or if I'm getting Robin's disability across effectively.**


	4. Casualty

Lucina had led Robin through the castle to his old room. It was an uneventful trip save for every time a guard or the occasional late working maid passed by and Robin cowered behind the princess.

The tactician's room was just as he had left it for no one had the heart to change anything. It was a fair size, Chrom would not have it any other way, but a bit sparse of furniture; with just a bed, desk, and a sizable bookcase. Lucina watched as Robin looked around the room as if it he could almost remember it, yet not quite. He gently sat on the bed and moved his arm along the comforter like it would bring it all back if he could just touch it long enough.

Lucina decided that that was a good time to leave and give him some space, but he had other ideas. Once again he grabbed her arm as she tried to leave.

"Robin, no," she gently unhooked his hand from her arm, "I cannot stay." He was not budging though and refused to let her leave. Lucina sighed to herself at his persistence. How he ended up so attached to her she had no idea. Still, after seeing the fear in his eyes she resigned and sat in his desk chair which seemed to satisfy Robin as he soon climbed onto his bed, yet he only took up a small portion of it as he curled himself into the fetal position.

After several minutes Lucina was confident that the tactician was sound asleep and rose from the chair. She reached for the door handle, but stopped just short of it. She wondered how it might affect Robin if he were to wake up to find that she had left. He already had trust issues, and he could barely sit at the same table as his best friend as it was; were he to think himself betrayed in that fragile state, he might break completely and irreparably.

She was brought out of her reverie by the sound of a now familiar mumbling. She turned to spy Robin tossing to and fro violently in his bed as he spouted more and more gibberish. Whatever haunted him, she knew not. Fragments of old memories perhaps? Some of the things he had lived through would be disturbing for someone in perfect mental health, let alone someone already so frighteningly close to the edge of the abyss.

With one last sidelong glance at the handle, she went back and sat in the chair. She really was not sure what else she could do besides simply being there. She wished she could do more as he struggled, but she could not think of anything. She just hoped that someone would be able to help him more than she could.

* * *

The next few days went by relatively uneventfully. It was agreed that they would hold off on telling most of the Shepherds about Robin and his condition for the time being, at least until they could get someone to look at him and tell them why he ended up the way he was. As it stood, only Chrom, Sumia, Lucina, Frederick, and some of the guards and servants knew of his residence in the castle. Though Frederick seemed to have terrified Robin more than anyone else due to his imposing nature, therefore he kept his contact with the man to a minimum.

Chrom had sent for help on the matter of Robin with utmost urgency. Unfortunately, one of the best people to ask about the situation lived in Valm which meant that even by flier it would be several days before they arrived. However, she did have a particular method of travel that was…convenient. Soon enough Chrom would be greeting their guest.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice," Chrom greeted the manakete.

"It is the least I could do after everything you all have done," Tiki replied softly. They wasted no more time on pleasantries and made for Robin's room.

"Do you have any idea what the problem might be?" Chrom asked as he guided her down a particular corridor.

The manakete's face hardened as she replied, "I have a theory." That was all she offered, and Chrom decided not to inquire any further. They walked in on Lucina asleep in the desk chair while Robin slept semi-peacefully in his bed. Chrom was happy that they were both getting some sleep; he was worried even further when Lucina told him of Robin's struggles during sleep.

Chrom cleared his throat just loud enough to wake his daughter–she was a very light sleeper by necessity. She quickly stood straight after noticing who was there.

"Lady Tiki, it is good to see you again."

"And you as well," she walked slightly closer to the sleeping tactician before looking back at Lucina, "You found him correct?"

"Yes, milady," She proceeded to tell her the story of how she found him and what had happened.

"I see," Tiki seemed lost in thought.

"Do you know what happened to him, or why he gravitates toward me?"

"When he struck the final blow to Grima, he started to fade himself," she started, "His body started to fade to the point of intangibility. However it was still there, and so long as it was there, there was hope so long as he held on, which he did. Naga was able to help him by reversing his body's fading, but the strain of both that and the initial trauma was immense. Simply put, his mind just could not handle it."

"Will he be able to recover?"

"I cannot say. Honestly it's astonishing that he has held up as well as he did. Naga herself thought that he had been lost."

"How can the divine dragon make such a mistake?" Chrom asked with arms folded.

"As she told you herself," Tiki explained, "She is not actually a goddess. She is mortal as well, and, as such, is prone to mistakes just as you or I." She faced Lucina next, "As for why he is so attached to you, it could be as simple as the fact that you were the first familiar face he saw. Of course, it may go deeper than that."

 _"I would imagine that I would be one of the last people that he would want to stay with him."_

"Whatever the reason," Tiki continued, "It would probably be for the best if you stayed with him. All we can do is be there for him and surround him with a familiar setting. Time will tell if that will be enough."

"Thank you, Tiki," Chrom offered his gratitude, "Now, you've come along way, allow me to make some accommodations for you."

"I do feel a bit tired so I believe I will take you up on that offer," she accepted politely.

The two of them left Lucina alone with her thoughts and the sleeping tactician. She still did not know why he had become so attached to her. It was true that they were once good friends, but she thought that that friendship was destroyed when she turned her blade on him. Could he really have forgiven her? Or was he simply lacking those memories? Would he look at her with fear or hatred upon regaining them? Lucina did not have the answers to those questions, and honestly she was uncertain if she ever would.

 **A/N: I have a lot of free time… Anyway! Some of you may be disappointed in the cause of Robin's condition. In the end I decided to go with my planned idea, as basic as it may be.**


	5. Hope

In the effort to reintroduce Robin to familiar people and places, it was decided that Robin would spend some time with the royal couple who just so happened to be two of his closest friends. However, he would never stray far from Lucina as he was still uneasy around the two of them, but he was getting increasingly calmer around them.

Deciding that they had had enough bonding time for the day, plus Chrom did actually have a country to lead, they called it a day. Sumia recommended that Lucina take Robin to the gardens since she always found them to calm and relaxing. The fact of the matter was that she was concerned for Lucina's health as well. Days of only sleeping in a hard desk and tirelessly looking after their disabled friend must have taken their toll. She knew that her daughter was tough, but she could not help but worry. She was her daughter after all.

The gardens were just as peaceful as Lucina remembered from her brief stay at the castle during the war. There was no one around, not even the grounds keepers, but she theorized that her mother had something to do with that. Being the queen did have some perks she supposed.

The effect of the garden even reached Robin as he wandered around farther from Lucina than he usually did. He looked around with a childlike wonder at all of the plants and as he simply took in the peaceful environment. Lucina took the opportunity to relax a bit herself. She was not usually the relaxing type, but she decided to take some time to just unwind in the peace of the garden after days of watching over the tactician.

She lost herself in thought as she sat upon the grass. She hated having to stay at the castle and risk causing her father trouble, but at the same time she was delighted to spend time with them outside of war. She knew that they did not care about any potential problems that her presence could raise; perhaps she just had a hard time accepting that she could be happy. It was such a foreign concept to her after all, and she was afraid that if she grew accustomed it, then it would be taken from her.

In addition to the conundrum of what to do with herself and her parents, there was the ever looming issue of Robin. Robin was a complicated topic for Lucina. At one point she considered him one of the best friend she had, but after she had turned on him they had rarely spoken outside of official meetings. She was sure that he hated her for it, and they never got the chance to clear the air as it were. She had apologized of course, but they never actually talked about what happened. Then it was too late.

Now he was back though, but was he truly? She had never seen the man so fearful and vulnerable. Even when he was at his lowest, he was strong in his own way. Always looking for a way to secure victory. Sometimes she wondered if the man they all knew was even still there. Perhaps Naga had been correct in thinking him lost.

 _"…You also have me, for whatever that may be worth."_

His words rang through her mind. He had never stopped fighting for the Shepherds, for Yllise, for her father, for the world…for her. No, she would not give up on the tactician so easily. With their help, he would make his way back to them, and she would do everything in her power to see to it that he did.

The sun was soon setting upon the horizon and Lucina decided that it was time to take Robin back to his room. Unfortunately though, she seemed to have lost track of him while she was stuck so deep in thought. She quickly shot up in panic as she realized that he was nowhere to be seen. She started to search the garden for the tactician. It was a smaller private garden so he could not have gotten too far after all, but she was still concerned nonetheless. He had never wandered off like that before, and she was worried of what harm he might bring to himself if left unattended in the outdoors.

She fervently searched the garden while calling out the tactician's name. Internally she was berating herself for not keeping an eye on him, but he had never really given her a reason to since he normally clung to her side.

She finally found the tactician sitting alone in a secluded enclave within the garden. He seemed to be fascinated by a patch of daisies growing there. Though she did not know why. To her knowledge, the flower held no special meaning to the man, but then again, maybe it was just his favorite flower. Regardless, she let out a sigh of relief.

"There you are, Robin. Come on, we should go."

But he did not budge.

"It's getting late, we really should go."

This time he looked up at her, "L-Lucina…stay."

"No, we sh-wait," she looked at him in shock as realization struck her, "Did you just…"

"Lucina…stay?" he looked at her with almost pleading eyes.

She choked back a laugh as she nodded and smiled at him, "Yes, Lucina stay."

The princess took a seat next to the man as he resumed staring down the white flowers as the sun continued to sink below the horizon, but she did not care. He spoke! He actually spoke coherent words! Lucina knew that his path to recovery was still long, yet she could not help but smile despite herself. He was making progress, and that was enough for her. She would stay by him until he regained himself. However he reacted once he did, well, she believed that she deserved any rebuke that he would give, but she would at least stay until he was able to give it. She would not lose hope in his recovery, in him.

 **A/N: Okay, so I have a lot of free time. So, now that Robin has regained some linguistic ability I might start having some more interactions with the others.**

 **Again, if you have any ideas, feel free to share them. Also, let me know if I, you know, completely mess up the story or something. If you think that it's getting worse let me know (preferably with ideas of how to touch it up).**


	6. Family

The news of Robin speaking was well met by Chrom and Sumia. It gave everyone a much needed boost in morale, though Robin did not seem to understand why everyone was happy and even looked somewhat scared at their enthusiastic congratulations. Within a few days it was decided that Robin was comfortable enough with the others that Lucina did not have to be right there by his side so long as he could see her.

With that in mind, Sumia sent Lucina and Chrom off to talk just far enough where Robin could still see Lucina but she could still have some privacy with her father. Sumia planned to help Robin with one of her favorite things: books! Robin used to like to read, and while he was not up to reading himself, she would read it to him. Maybe it would help him in some way; Sumia was willing to try.

She decided to start off simple with a collection of children's books that she borrowed from the library. Picking up one of her childhood favorites, she began to read the story much like she did for baby Lucina.

"Once upon a time…"

* * *

Father and daughter sat down at a stone table in the castle grounds. Lucina really did not know what to say, so she said nothing and just enjoyed being in the presence of her father; a luxury that many took for granted. Chrom for his part looked uncharacteristically somber like he had something he wanted to say but was unsure of how to say it. Letting out a breath, Chrom resolved himself to finally say something.

"So, what do you plan to do once Robin is better?"

"I," she knew that she could not avoid the topic forever, but that did not mean that she wanted to discuss it, "I will have to leave."

"Why?" Chrom would not let it go that easily.

"Because, it would cause too many problems. Your daughter from the future, who would believe such a tale?"

"I would," he smirked but quickly reverted to his serious demeanor, "No one has to know that doesn't know already."

"Then how do we explain this?" she pointed to her left eye.

"Most people would never even see that, Lucina, and the ones that do, well, we can make a cover story."

"A cover story?"

"Yeah, something to allay any suspicions on your origin. You could pose as a long lost cousin perhaps."

"And what of the other Lucina?"

"We already call her Lucy all the time. No reason we can't continue."

"How long have you been thinking about this?"

"Well," Chrom smirked, "Sumia and I may have discussed it a bit. Frederick may have helped a little as well."

Lucina could not help but smile ever so slightly. They really wanted her to stay, but, she still was not quite ready to accept their offer, "I don't know…"

"Well, no rush," he put his hand on her shoulder, "Just remember, we love you Lucina. More than any potential public relations problem could possibly undo."

"T-thank you, I will."

"Now come on," he said as he started rummaging through a nearby bush, "You must be stressed, and I have found that a good way to relieve stress is to hit things," he said as he pulled out two crude training dummies that he had stashed away.

Lucina smiled, "You planned this."

"Even I can plan ahead from time to time."

* * *

"…and they lived happily ever after. The end."

Robin seemed enthralled by the stories that Sumia had read him. She really had no idea what was going on behind those inquisitive eyes, but she hoped that it was good. She had just finished up one of her favorites and he was already pointing at another one from the stack. She laughed lightly at his eagerness.

"Alright, one more," she picked up the indicated book. She enjoyed this time as it reminded her of how they used to discuss the books they had read and sometimes just sit and read without any words spoken. She liked having someone to share her interest in reading with, and it led to a strong friendship between the two. Sumia liked to think that she was one of his closest friends. It was fitting too, as the royal family seemed to kind of informally adopt the tactician into the family. He was one of them even if he was not technically a part of the family.

Sumia started with the familiar words that so oft begin the journey of a children's story. In the distance she could hear Chrom and Lucina setting up the training dummies. She smiled to herself as she thought of Chrom hiding them in an attempt to be clever, but she was glad for them to get some bonding time in any case.

She was not even half way through her story when they started to wail away at the dummies. When she looked at Robin as she turned the page, she noticed that he looked uneasy. Before she could ask him what was wrong, he clutched his head in pain as he started whimpering loudly.

The commotion caught the attention of the father-daughter duo, and Lucina was by the man's side in short order. She had never seen him quite like this. He seemed especially distressed, but she was not quite sure by what.

"What happened?" she asked her mother as she tried to comfort the tactician.

"I-I don't know! Everything was fine until he started to look uneasy, but before I could do anything, this happened."

"What could have…" she trailed off when she noticed that he had a clear view of where she and her father had been training. It did not take her long to put the pieces together.

"It's okay, Robin, you're safe."

He paused and looked up at her, clearly not convinced, "N-no… fight?"

"No, no fighting. Is that it? You're afraid to fight." He grimaced as if unsure of the question or how to answer, maybe both. "It's fine, you don't have to say anything if you don't want to."

She slowly helped him up and led him to his room leaving Chrom and Sumia alone.

"He must have remembered some things from the wars," Sumia said as Chrom put his arm around her.

"That can't be easy in his condition," Chrom said as he looked after the two retreating figures.

"We just have to help him to remember the good times," Sumia replied optimistically causing Chrom to look to his wife with a smile.

"Heh, you're right. It may be hard, but Robin's a fighter. He won't go down so easily."


	7. Ludicrous

After his latest breakdown, Robin was even quieter than usual. Whatever had happened clearly disturbed him a great deal. Lucina was beginning to worry that his condition had regressed. As she led him through the castle's corridors she kept eyeing him to see how he was doing, but he remained the same throughout the trip. Lucina wished that she could help him, but she did not even know what was wrong. Perhaps he regained some memories and was mulling over them.

A respite from such thoughts came as they were about halfway to Robin's room. It came in the form of a young girl, no more than three years old, in a blue dress running down the hall so fast that she almost ran into them.

"Hey," she said excitedly, "Who are you? I don't know you, are you new?"

"Uh," Lucina really was not sure how to proceed, "I am a friend of your parents." It technically was not a lie.

"Oh," she seemed to calm down, slightly, "Mommy and daddy have lots of friends! Who are you?" she asked the tactician causing him to flinch back, "What's wrong?"

"He is not well," Lucina answered as vaguely as possible knowing that she was not old enough to understand.

"Oh," this time she seemed to calm down significantly more, "I don't like getting sick either. I feel icky and get really cranky too. Mommy says I need to more vegatables, but they taste really icky."

"Thank you, now we really should get going," Lucina made haste to get away from the young girl both because that she did not want to upset Robin anymore and she found it really awkward to converse with her. The young girl, however, was not very keen on picking up on her awkwardness though as she just kept rambling on half-intelligible words to the two of them, but mostly at Robin.

"That's nice, but I should really get Robin to his room so that he can rest."

"Oh! You're taking care of him? Do you like him?"

"H-he is an old friend."

"No, not like," she leaned in and looked around as if she was about to divulge the biggest secret ever known, "I mean do you like-like him?"

"W-what? Why would you even ask that?" she would not admit it, but she was blushing.

"You seemed really worried about him, and you're taking care of him," she innocently kicked the ground, "I just thought that you might."

"Well I suggest you do not ask people questions like that. It might get you into trouble."

Their conversation was cut short by the sounds of approaching footsteps.

"Oh no!" the young girl looked over her shoulder before running off in the opposite direction without so much as a goodbye. Lucina just shook her head as she guided Robin back to his room.

She got him situated on his bed where he drifted into an uneasy sleep. Lucina made herself comfortable in the all too familiar desk chair as she let her own mind wander. Her thoughts kept drifting to what "Lucy" had said. How could she say something so preposterous?

It was preposterous, right? Why was she helping him so? Was it out of guilt for her past actions? Was it because they used to be such good friends? Because it was the right thing to do? Surely it was not because she had "feelings" for the tactician. Of course not! It was ludicrous to even consider. It would never work anyways, but…why should that matter if she did not have those feelings?

It would be pointless anyways. He would never feel that way. He was her father's best friend after all-why was she even thinking these things? She did not feel that way. It just was not true. Right?

* * *

The next day as Robin and Lucina were going to the garden, a certain little princess intercepted them much to the displeasure of the older princess.

"There you are!" she exclaimed excitedly as she ran up to Robin with a wide smile on her face. He looked alarmed at the young girl's hyperness though, and cringed involuntarily as she invaded his personal space.

"Hey, it's okay. No need to be scared. I'm here to help," she said triumphantly with her hands hidden behind her back. She pulled her hands from their hiding places to reveal a small blue blanket with the brand of the exalt embroidered in the center of it.

"Here," she held out the blanket to him, "Whenever I feel bad, I like to give my favorite blankie a hug. Maybe it will make you feel better too!"

"H-hug?" Robin looked confused.

"You don't know what a hug is?" she looked shocked but quickly recovered upon seeing his ashamed face, "Don't worry, I'll show you." She gave the blanket a quick squeeze before handing it off to the tactician, "Now, you try."

He carefully grabbed the blanket with slightly shaking hands. He looked at it for a moment before looking at the young princess, "Go on," she urged. He gingerly gave it a soft squeeze in emulation of the young girl.

"You can, uh, borrow it if you want," the young girl replied hesitantly, "You need it more than I do, but I want it back so you better take good care of it. Promise?"

"P-promise," he did not look too sure of what was going on, but he did not want to disappoint the child.

"Good, now I gotta go. Mommy is looking for me, it's time for my lessons, but I hate them. They're so boring, but I like you so get better soon, okay?" she did not wait for a response as she ran off. It was not long before Sumia also came running down the hall.

"Did either of you see Lucy?"

"Yes, mother, she was just here; she went that way."

It was then that Sumia took notice of the blanket that Robin held.

"Did Lucy give you her blankie? I can't believe she would actually give that up," she commented before remembering what she was doing and continued her pursuit of her energetic daughter.

Lucina looked on as Robin looked down at the blanket. Particularly the brand on it. Lucina remembered a similar blanket in her time. It was one of her favorite possessions in her youth. She would tie it around her neck and where it as a cape when playing with her friends. Honestly she was surprised that Lucy would give it up, even temporarily.

"Robin, are you ready to go?" she asked as the tactician made no move to continue to the garden. Instead he was staring at the blanket. He turned to Lucina and smiled.

"Robin…ready," he nodded as they made their way down the hall to the garden. Lucina never was good at telling what the man was thinking, and that was one thing that had not changed. However, she was confident that he was making his way back to them; what happened once he did, Lucina would just have to take.

 **A/N: Am I the only one who posted a real chapter today? Anyway, three years old is being pretty generous with Lucy's age, but I wanted her old enough to talk. Speaking of that: I am not quite sure how to write a three year old so she probably sounds too old. I also didn't want to give her too important of a role as that is reserved for Lucina.**

 **Probably won't update tomorrow as I actually have stuff to do. Plus I could probably use the break. My update schedule is the one thing that most probably can't complain about; unless they like waiting. I have a good bit of free time.**


	8. Meaning

In the next few days Lucina started to take Robin on walks through the castle. Their route still had to be vacant, but that was more so that no one would see Robin rather than Robin seeing them. He had actually been doing quite well with others, so long as he was accompanied by Lucina. Naturally, they could not spend every waking moment together, and when she left, even if just for a few minutes, he would become much more angsty and easily frightened. He was doing better on his own to be sure, but he just was not up to managing by himself just yet.

One of those walks led them to one of the outdoor walkways on the sides of the castle. Robin stopped after they had crossed about three fourths of the walkway causing Lucina to look back to see why he was no longer by her side. He was busy staring over the top of the rampart at the countryside. The castle was built on a hill which gave a good vantage point in all directions. In fact, it was the favorite aspect of the castle to some.

Lucina loved the view here. It was, in her opinion, the best view from the castle with its rolling hills and peaceful forests. She had found this view when the Shepherds where stopped over before going to Plegia after the Valmese war. She found it oddly relaxing to just stare at the rolling landscape. It gave her both a brief respite and a renewed vigor as she was reminded what she was fighting for.

She glanced over at Robin as he enthusiastically took in the sight and she could not help but smile as she turned her gaze back to the countryside. It seemed that more and more of the man she had known was beginning to reemerge as the days went past. He still appeared quite a ways off from recovery, but he had certainly begun his long journey back to them. A journey that Lucina was eager to see him complete, but at the same time she feared his seemingly inevitable distaste for her. At the very least their friendship was likely ruined which was something that Lucina had resigned to living with no matter how much she did not want to; she felt she deserved it after all.

Yet she could not help but feel hurt at the thought of the man hating her. She had cherished the tactician's opinion for a while, yet she had insisted that it was because of his typically good judgement and their friendship. Now? Now she was not so sure. She had been starting to wonder about her feelings toward the man for a while, but had always managed to pin her actions on other things such as guilt or friendship. Her interaction with Lucy had only weakened her surety in her purely platonic stance.

There were so many problems with the very idea. There were so many problems, yet she could not help but consider it. She was not banishing those thoughts as quickly or completely as she used to either. Though now there was another problem to add to the list, she still thought of the possibility of her actually holding feelings for the man, and of him actually returning those feelings. She would push them back, but they still had an impact of the princess; they made her question herself. Regardless of the extent of her feelings, it was clear that the tactician was important to her.

When she ceased her gazing, she saw that Robin was looking intently at her with a slight smile on his face causing her to go slightly red.

"Are you ready to continue?" she asked the tactician which he replied in the affirmative. They continued with their walk until they ended up back at the garden which had become a favorite of Robin's.

He thoroughly enjoyed the peace of the garden as well as the multitude of plants. He would look at each and every nook and cranny of the garden in wonderment. Lucina noticed that his favorite though seemed to be the enclave with the daisies. She had asked her parents about it, but they were both at a loss as to why he seemed to like that particular flower so much. Lucina wondered if perhaps he had regained some of his lost memories from before her father found him in that field and that maybe those memories had something to do with his fascination with the white flower.

Robin soon noticed that Lucina was watching him and gave her a small smile as he sat in the small enclave.

"Lucina…sit?" he asked the princess as she stood in the small entryway. It was not an incredibly large area, but they would both be able to fit comfortably so Lucina smiled lightly and took a seat on a patch of green grass next to the tactician. It felt almost like old times. She had grown quite used to the man's company and enjoyed any chance they had to talk. He would sometimes ramble on and on about some form of tactics before apologizing for boring her. She smiled as she thought of all the times she had seen him asleep at his desk after staying up too late working on the strategy they would use. It got to the point where she started to check on him whenever she got off of a late watch or could not sleep to see if he had properly went to bed and at times throw a blanket around the tactician. She was not sure if he ever figured out how he ended up covered from time to time.

"Lucina…" Robin started, drawing the princess' attention. He looked uncertain, but decided to continue, "Lucina…special…"

Lucina was not sure what to make of that, "What do you mean?"

He looked incredibly frustrated like he could not find the right words, "Lucina…special… Upon seeing Lucina's confused look he let out a frustrated sigh, "Sorry…Robin…room now."

He got up to leave while Lucina continued to sit for a moment, confused as to what he meant. She eventually did get up and guided him to his room, but the whole time she was thinking about his words. Was he talking about her role in stopping Grima? The fact that she was from another world? Perhaps it was the fact of her parentage? Could he…no, surely not. Lucina shook her head as they walked down the corridor.

 **A/N: Let me know if I'm dropping the ball or something so I try and fix it. With that said, I have some thoughts for future stories, so you may have to put up with me for a while.**


	9. Siblings

The Pegasus knight let out a weary sight. She had been on a training expedition with the new recruits for the past week. Add that to almost a month of patrol duty and her trip to Valm, and it was enough to tax even her massive stores of energy. Granted, she had volunteered for it; a mistake she did not intend to make again. She had barely finished grooming her mount before trudging back to the castle. As much as she wanted to just collapse in her bed, she decided that she should at least greet her mother as she came to greet her.

"Cynthia!" the Pegasus knight turned queen exclaimed at the sight of her daughter. After a brief embrace she pulled back to take in her daughter's condition, "Honey, you look even more exhausted than Lucina has been," she let out before realizing her mistake.

"Lucy's here?" she perked up; her exhaustion seemingly forgotten, "When? Why? Where?"

"I think she's in the garden."

"Thanks, mom, bye!" she said rapidly as she ran off inside of the castle.

"Wait, Cynthia, there's something I need…" she paused when she realized that she was not listening, "to tell you."

"Where is she going in such a hurry?" Cordelia asked as she approached her friend.

"Trouble"

* * *

Robin and Lucina were sitting on a bench in the garden. Robin was not as exuberant as he usually was in the garden; he seemed distracted since their awkward conversation. Lucina was not sure what to think herself, but if he was lost in thought then that would be an excellent sign of progress. However, she also feared that he was upset with her. She had not come to terms with why just yet, but she knew that she hated the idea. Of course she could also have been overthinking things; he may have simply been confused by a sudden rush of memories or something of that sort.

Lucina was about to ask if the tactician wanted to get some lunch, but when she opened her mouth to verbalize the question she was halted by a familiar voice yelling her name.

"Lucina!" Cynthia yelled as she tackled her sister in a bear hug, "You came back!"

"C-cynthia?" Lucina asked as she gathered her bearings, "What are you doing here?"

"I live here silly," she said as she finally let her sister go, "It's good to see that you finally came around! Imagine all the sisterly things we can do now!"

"Cynthia," Lucina started calmly, "I have not decided to stay here permanently."

"What?" the Pegasus knight's face deflated, "Then why are you here."

"Well," her glance went over to Robin who was eyeing the newcomer suspiciously, yet he did not move, possibly out of a sense of familiarity, "It's complicated."

Cynthia followed her sister's gaze to find the tactician which she had completely overlooked in her excitement.

"Robin!" she lunged for the man and gave him a hug, while he looked fairly uncomfortable during said hug, "I knew you were alive. I just knew it!" she finally noticed his uneasy look, "Hey, what's wrong?"

"That is what I was talking about," Lucina cut in, "He is…not well." Lucina went on to tell her sister what had happened with Robin while she was gone.

"That's terrible, but…" she paused before responding with full enthusiasm, "He'll be fine. He has to; he's a hero."

"Yes," Lucina nodded, "but until then we need to keep his presence a secret."

"Alright! Whatever it takes!" Lucina smiled; it seemed like nothing could faze her sister for long. It was an endearing quality, if not irksome at times. Still, she was happy to get to see her sister after such a long time apart. "Come, we should let mother and father know you are here," Lucina instructed as she prepared to leave.

"Oh, yeah, about that…I may have rushed off when mother let it slip that you were here before she could explain…"

"Cynthia…"

* * *

The royal family plus Robin was enjoying a private lunch. Chrom and Sumia were eager to catch up with their other time traveling daughter and Lucina enjoyed the quality family time. Robin for his part ate quietly, seemingly content to simply watch on with a smile. It was not the first time that Robin had been invited to join the royals during their meals. Chrom considered the man like a brother and was always keen on treating him as such whether that meant inviting him to family meals or being the butt of friendly jibing which he would throw back at the tactician.

Robin would occasionally decline though. Sometimes he was spending time with other Shepherds, or perhaps he wanted to give the family some time alone. During the height of conflicts it became a fairly common occurrence for him to take his meals in his tent, assuming he ate at all. It was a source of concern for all of the Shepherds, but especially for his surrogate family. Eventually he was started to eat more regularly, but almost no one knew why. Lucina knew though, for it was she who convinced him to take better care of himself. Ironically, he had talked to her about taking better care of herself earlier which just made Lucina's argument all the harder to rebut.

After lunch Sumia suggested that Lucina and Cynthia go catch up. Lucina was about to object, but Sumia insisted that Robin would be fine with them. With her argument seemingly defeated, she reluctantly agreed. Before the royal couple could decide what to do, however, a maid came in and informed them that Lucy had requested that she put her up for her nap. So she left her husband to watch after the tactician by himself.

Normally, Chrom would be fine with spending some time with his friend, but he was unsure how to interact with the man as he was. He was not a patient man, and as such, he was not good with the ill, especially those who required patience.

"So, uh, what do you want to do?"

"So how long have you been staying here?" Lucina asked her sister as they walked around the castle.

"Since the end of the war. Mom and Dad offered and I took them up on it," Lucina was about to reply, but Cynthia had a good idea what she was going to say, "I know about the whole causing problems thing, but there is no way for us to go back, Lucy. Besides, nothing terrible has happened yet."

"I suppose, b-but what if–" she was cut off by her sister.

"Lucy, are you really so against the idea of staying here?"

"I-I'm just not sure," she admitted, "It feels nice. Being with them, but…"

"It's okay to be happy, you know," Cynthia smiled at her sister, "You deserve it."

"Maybe," she trailed off, "Maybe you're right."

They talked for a while longer. They discussed Cynthia's trips to Valm. They talked about the Pegasus knight recruits and her new job in the Pegasus knights underneath Cordelia. Patrols were fairly routine these days. With the Risen gone, all that was left was the occasional bandit raid which were dealt with swiftly.

Lucina's mind kept wondering back to what her sister had said earlier though. Maybe she could be happy finally. Without a way to return home, she really was not sure what to do next. Maybe she could stay at the castle and enjoy the presence of her family. Maybe she could even get a job training recruits like her sister had. But, what of Robin? Once he recovered, would he even want to live near her? Could she stand seeing his visage changing into a snarl every time he saw her? Could she really be happy?

"I'm back," Sumia called as she entered into the dining room where Robin and Chrom were still located, "Did you have fun?"

"I just don't think I'm getting through to him," Chrom sighed as he directed his gaze at his wife.

"Ah, come on. It can't be that bad."

Chrom was about to reply when Robin spoke up, "Chrom…," he paused for a moment, "Chrom…friend…best friend…," he smiled to his friends and they smiled back. He may not have been completely back, but he was getting there and, in that moment, it was good enough for them…but Chrom could not help but feel that Robin had been intentionally making him feel bad.

 **A/N: Okay, so as it has been pointed out, Lucy was too young for her words, and you're probably right. I was pushing her age as it was though to get it as high as I did. Without extending Robin's MIA period, I don't think I can fix it efficiently. Please don't think me too defensive (if I am, tell me), but two people have mentioned it so I thought I should address it.**

 **Also, I really don't know how to write Chrom and Robin's friendship while Robin can't converse effectively so it is probably lacking. Hopefully I at least got Cynthia okay. Oh, and Cordelia cameo!**


	10. Regrets

**A/N: In case you missed Siblings you may want to go back one chapter. The sight was still listing the story as having been updated on the third for some reason.**

Every day Robin seemed to make another small step to recovery. He was able to piece together two or three words by now, and he was becoming friendlier in general though his mental state remained largely a mystery. So impressive was his progress, that it was decided that he should try to go a day "on his own." In reality Frederick would be shadowing the tactician, but in his current state they doubted if Robin would even notice.

Lucina was not so sure about the idea, but she agreed nonetheless. Her misgivings did not go unnoticed; in fact, Cynthia was beginning to piece together everything between the two of them. All of the time they spent together; by the end of the Valmese war the time she spent with their tactician rivaled the time she spent with her parents and other friends. How her mood would instantly improve whenever Robin was around; Cynthia saw her sister smile more around the tactician than any other time.

Some signs required a more keen insight into Lucina as a person to see, which Cynthia was certainly in a position to have as her sister. Like the mere fact that she allowed herself to grow so close to someone from this time spoke volumes. Perhaps Robin had played an important part in getting that relationship rolling, but the fact that Lucina let it continue as far as it did meant that she cared deeply.

After seeing how dedicated to Robin's recovery Lucina was, Cynthia was left with little doubt. Lucina was many things, but she was terrible with emotions-especially her own; she may never admit her feelings on her own. She smiled deviously to herself. Lucina had nothing to do today so they might as well have some sisterly bonding, and if she happens to slip up about her feelings? Well, that would certainly be interesting. Was it meddling where she probably should not? Probably, but what if it was just the push her sister needed?

Lucina was sitting alone in her room with a book that she was pretending to read, but she was just not into those romance novels like her mother was. She was not entirely sure why her mother had loaned it to her; she knew she did not care for that type of reading. True, she did not quite know what to do with herself and all of her newfound free time, but the book only served to bring up thoughts that she would rather were not there.

Her disinterest in the novel led to her eagerly putting it away when she heard a knock on her door.

"Come in," she called to her visitor who turned out to be none other than her sister, "Cynthia? Do you need something?"

The Pegasus knight stifled a snicker and replied, "Does a sister need a reason to visit her sister?"

Lucina raised her brow at her strange behavior, but she did not comment on it, "No, I suppose not."

"Good, now come on! Let's take a walk around; talk a bit. We barely even talked about you!" she started to pull her sister out the door.

"Um, okay?"

Robin was not really doing much. He had walked around for a while and awkwardly greeted a few servants in passing, but for the most part he was doing nothing of interest. Frederick was not entirely sure what he used to do in his free time, but he was fairly certain that he usually did a little more than this even if it was just reading. Though he did recall Robin mentioning something about taking walks to clear his mind, so he may have been trying to sort out his thoughts.

Honestly he was never particularly close to the tactician. That is not to say that he disliked him however. Admittedly he did distrust the man initially due to his incredibly shaky and unsubstantiated claims, but after their failed attempt at rescuing the Exalt he grew to trust him. At first he was certain that he had orchestrated it, but once he saw through his own rage and despair, he saw that the tactician had taken the loss harder than most of the Shepherds had. After that he started to lend the amnesiac his trust, and, while they never became fast friends, the knight grew to respect the man.

However, respect or no, following the man as he casually strolled through the castle was incredibly tedious. He did finally go somewhere of some interest though when he went to the garden that Frederick had been told had become a favorite of Robin's. Soon enough he had disappeared into his favorite enclave which the knight thought nothing of. However, after he had been in there for quite a while without making so much of a sound, the knight decided to discreetly check on him.

As he got closer to the enclave he could see no sign of the tactician causing him to hasten slightly. Once he got there he was surprised to find that Robin was nowhere to be found. Unsure as to what had happened, the knight started to search the enclave where he eventually discovered a hole in the wall separating the garden from the rest of the grounds covered by vines. He had been duped.

"W-why do you say that?" Lucina was taken aback by her sister's question. Their conversation had started out normal enough despite her sister's strange behavior. They simply talked and Lucina even smiled a few times at Cynthia's antics, but once they were secluded enough Cynthia's questions started to inch closer and closer to a certain tactician. It culminated with Cynthia abandoning all attempts at subtlety and straight up accusing her of having feelings for the tactician.

"Come on, Lucy," she put her hands on her hips, "I know you better than you think. Maybe even better than you know yourself, and I say you like him."

"I–" did she? She did not know. Maybe she did, but–no it could not–could it? Could it even work? Why not? There were so many reasons, but she still entertained the thought. Even if she did, there was no way that he would feel the same, right? Maybe he did. No! Of course he did not feel that way! He hated her; surely he hated her. Or did she hate herself? Maybe that was it. No, he would surely be disgusted by the mere thought of her holding feelings for him, he had to.

"No"

"What?" Cynthia was surprised by Lucina's response. She honestly had thought she would admit it once confronted. Was she wrong?

"I said that I don't have feelings for him! I can't…"

"Uh…" Cynthia froze.

"What is it?" Lucina just wanted to be left alone, but when her sister did not reply she noticed that something had caught her attention. She turned to see what was so important and froze herself as there stood Robin, face hard yet a slight trace of hurt as he clenched his fist and ran off in the opposite direction ignoring the princess' pleas.

She gave chase after briefly gathering herself, but soon paused as she heard something crunch underneath her foot. She reached down and picked up some daisies, freshly picked from the garden. Tightening her grip on the flowers, she ran as fast as she could. She did not fully understand what had happened, but she knew she had to make it right…if it was not already too late.

 **A/N: Hopefully this does not come off as rushed. I had considered an intermediate chapter, but decided against it.**


	11. Clear

Robin was running. Mentally he was berating himself. Of course she did not share his feelings. He knew it was a long shot, but he had hoped that perhaps she did return his affection. Sure there were problems such as the whole best friend's daughter thing, not to mention his currently impaired state, but he had hoped that it would not change anything. Of course, was there even anything to change?

While his physical state still had much to be desired, his mind was mostly restored save for a few memories here and there. However, even before that, he knew. He knew that he had deep feelings for her; he had loved her before the end of the war, but he never brought himself to say anything. Was it out of respect for his friend? Was it because they were literally from two different worlds? Or was it out of fear? Yes, he was afraid. The man who had stared the fell dragon down without so much as flinching was terrified of being rejected.

As he was running, memories started to flood back causing him to clutch his head as he continued to flee.

" _May I have a word?"_

"No…"

" _I have memories of him, before he died."_

"I'm sorry!"

" _You are my father's murderer."_

"I didn't…"

" _I-I know that this is murder, but…sacrifices must be made."_

"Lucina…"

Robin stopped and propped himself against a wall as he breathed heavily. She hated him, of course she did! How could she not? The future, Grima, her father's death, it was all his fault. No wonder she said that she could not hold feelings for him. How could she ever love someone like that? Why then? Why did he still feel so strongly? He thought she must have felt that way before killing the fell dragon, so, why? Why was she what kept him from fully losing himself? Why, when he was but a shell of a man was she the one that he was drawn to? Why could he not let go? Why? Because he loved her, and he could not simply stop that.

Pushing himself off of the wall he continued his trek through the castle at a slower pace.

* * *

Lucina was running. She did not care who saw her, she just ran. She was kicking herself mentally. She should not have said something like that so brashly, and it certainly did not have the effect that she had expected. Robin looked so hurt, so broken, and when she saw him like that it ripped her heart in two. What she had said was a lie, she knew that now. She loved him, and just as she learned that he might love her back, she may have destroyed any chance of them being together.

She ignored her sister's pleas as she ran. She was not concerned about anything other than finding Robin at the moment. She searched the obvious, but his room was vacant and the garden empty. She stood in the empty garden as she desperately racked her mind for any inclination of where he could have gone. Where could he have run off to? She suddenly bolted out of the garden as she got an idea; there was no guarantee that she was right, but it was better than nothing. So she kept running; desperate to fix the mess she had created.

* * *

Robin stared off of the bulwark as the sun set. He had wandered around the castle until he finally came to the rampart. It was as good a place as any for him to collect himself so he stopped there.

He had not realized until he stopped that he had been crying. For how long, he did not know, but he did not try to stop his tears as they fell from his face. He did not care at that moment. He just wanted to let it out. He wanted relief from the pain that he felt. The pain of a broken heart. He knew he should have expected such an outcome, but he could not help it. She snuck into his heart without even realizing it.

Why would he even think that she would return his feelings? How could he expect her to just forget everything that she had been through? She must have hated him for what he was.

"Robin…" Robin froze at the sound of her voice. He braced himself as he looked at the princess. "Why?" she pleaded as both her voice and face started to betray her fragile state, "Why did you run?"

"Lucina…"

"Please…" she sounded so desperate, so upset; he hated that, "I need to know."

"Robin…" he paused as he clenched his fists in frustration before forcing out, "I…remember."

Lucina looked surprised at the news, "W-what do you remember?"

"Most…"Robin struggled to find the right words which frustrated him greatly, "Chrom... Sumia…Shepherds…" he paused for a moment before continuing, "You."

She looked to the side in shame, "Even…" Maybe he still had not remembered what she did to him. Maybe he would still hate her.

He nodded in sorrowful affirmation, "Yes…I…understand if…Lucina…hate Robin…"

"What!?" He thought that she hated him? Did that mean…

"I…my father…Grima…"

"Robin, I don't hate you. You are not responsible for their actions, or what happened in my world. Just because that man failed doesn't mean that you share the blame."

He looked at her in disbelief, "But…"

"Robin, I don't hate you," she reaffirmed before taking a deep breath. This was it, for better or for worse, she was going to say it, "I love you."

Robin stared at her in shock. He never actually thought that he would hear her say those words; he was elated! But, she deserved better.

"Lucina…deserves better. Look at…Robin…broken...burdern," He looked down dejectedly, but Lucina gently pushed his gaze back into her own.

"I don't care," she said with a newfound firmness, "You mean the world to me, and I won't let something so trivial get in the way."

"But…" he wanted to throw it all aside and simply embrace her, but he did not know how long it would take him to recover fully assuming he ever did. He did not want to be a burden to her.

"Robin, I was broken too. Maybe it was not as obvious as your condition, but I was broken all the same. I-I struggled with my past for so long. The memories would haunt me day and night. I could not escape. My family and friends helped, but it wasn't until you that I truly started to mend. You helped me forget. You taught me to look forward instead of back. You broke through my cold exterior."

"Robin, you helped me, and I will not abandon you," she offered him the bouquet that he had previously dropped, "I love you, and your condition cannot change that."

Robin wrapped his hands around Lucina's hand that held the bouquet, "I love you, Lucina."

Lucina smiled back at him, "No matter what happens, I will love you always."

 **A/N: So, yeah, this may be incredibly cheesy and poorly written, but if you think so, then don't worry because there is only one more chapter to go.**

 **I had planned to explain the daisies, but it just did not seem to work with what I had. I may do a one-shot later to explain it.**


	12. Mended

Robin was busy fumbling with his belt in his room. He had made significant progress in the past year and a half, but finer motor skills could still prove irksome. It did not help that his attire was needlessly ornate and thus complicated. He wore a blue coat with gold inlays and a shirt that was so uncomfortable that he was sure was top of the line. His shoes were also ridiculously shiny and just as unpleasant.

He finally got his belt buckled as his best friend came knocking at his door. Chrom was also dressed in finery, but not quite as fancy as Robin's; it was not his day to shine.

"Nervous?" the exalt asked his friend.

"A little," he confessed, "But I'm still sure."

"Good," he laughed, "If you weren't I would have to have a few words with you."

"As my best man, or as the father of the bride?"

"What do you think?"

Since it was not common knowledge that Lucina was Chrom's daughter, Chrom was Robin's best man. However, Chrom would still walk her down the aisle since Lucina's parents were deceased, which was technically true as well. People not in the loop found it odd, but who were they to argue with the exalt?

"So is everyone ready?" Robin asked his soon-to-be father-in-law. That idea had taken some getting used to, but they managed to cope; largely due to ignoring it most of the time.

"On this end at least. Thought I'd do my last checkup as best man and make you're you weren't freaking out before heading over to the girl's camp."

"Thank you, and don't worry, I won't be running out."

"Good, because if you do, no amount of tactics will keep me from hunting you down."

Robin let out an awkward chuckle as the man left his room. He probably was not lying either. Not that it mattered. He had no intentions of ever leaving her. He could not help but smile. He was nervous, yes, but his excitement easily trumped it. It was so surreal, almost like a dream, but it was really happening. He was getting married.

* * *

"You look beautiful!" Sumia excitedly complimented her daughter.

"I don't know. What if he doesn't like it," Lucina was many things, but confident in her appearance was not one of them.

"You're overreacting, Lucy," Cynthia told her sister. The Pegasus knight had apologized profusely after the incident with Robin, but they had both forgiven her. They ended up together in the end and that was all that they really cared about.

"Cynthia's right, honey. You could walk down in rags and he would still think that you are the most beautiful woman in the world."

"I-If you say so…" Lucina was beyond nervous, but she supposed it was only natural. In her world she never really had time to consider something so seemingly frivolous as marriage. It was but a pipe dream. Now though, now she was getting ready to wed to her true love. She could not help but smile at the thought.

The women were distracted by a knock on the door followed by a familiar voice, "Everyone decent?"

"Yes dear," Sumia replied to her husband.

Chrom entered the room and smiled at his family. He loved them dearly, and was elated to see his eldest so happy. It had become the norm actually. Ever since she and Robin had confessed their feelings, she had started to smile more. Despair had given way to hope, and he was happy to see that, even if it meant having his best friend as a son-in-law.

"You look great," he offered sincerely.

"Thank you, father."

"It's almost time. Are you ready?"

"Yes," she nodded as she took his offered arm. Sumia saw them off with a smile as they left. After they got in position Chrom noticed that Lucina seemed to have something on her mind.

"Is something wrong?"

"It's just," she hesitated for a moment, "This is all so much. Growing up, the idea of you walking me down the aisle to be married was nothing but a fantasy, yet here we are. It's a dream come true."

"But…" Chrom knew that something else was bothering her.

She let out a sigh, "I'm worried that I won't be a good wife. I've never really had much of an example. What if I make him miserable? What if I make him want to leave me?"

"Lucina, don't be ridiculous."

"But…"

"Listen, do you love him?"

"Yes," she said without any hesitation, "With all my heart."

"Do you believe he loves you?"

"Yes, of course."

"Then it doesn't matter if you 'know' what to do or not. Look, there will be some adjustments that will need to made and there will be some hard times, but if you really love each other then you will keep going. You will not let the hard times break you, and you will love each other all the more."

"I see…thank you, father. I guess I may have overreacted."

"No problem. It's only natural. You should have seen me on my wedding day." he smiled at her as the others started to arrive. Once they were in position, all that remained was for them to wait for the music which started promptly.

Robin was taken aback by the sight of his bride-to-be. Her dress was simple and traditional, yet beautiful. He was reminded just how lucky he was. However, he was a little too distracted as the priest had to call his name several times to get his attention which incited a few chuckles from the Shepherds.

"Sir, Robin, the vows."

"O-oh, right, sorry," he answered bashfully before clearing his throat, "Lucina, when I was stripped of everything that made me myself, my love for you remained. Even when my mind was shattered, my heart refused to follow suit because you held it together. Even if you did not realize it, you kept me together both before and after you found me. I love you, Lucina, with all my heart, and that will never change. I promise to stand by you; no matter what comes our way, I will love you always."

The priest then signaled for Lucina to give her vows.

"When I joined the Shepherds, I tried to distance myself from everyone, but you, you would not let me do that. You kept pushing and trying to break down the barriers that I had put in place, and slowly I found myself caring for you deeply. You managed to weave your way into my heart, and while it may have taken me a while to realize it, I truly do love you with all of my heart. I promise to love you always; no matter what the future holds."

"The rings," the priest signaled Chrom to hand Robin the rings which they promptly slid onto the other's finger.

"I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."

The two shared a brief yet meaningful kiss before they made their way out. Whatever awaited them, they knew not, but they did not care. They would take whatever came their way, together.

 **A/N: And so it ends. Is this corny? Probably, but isn't that kind of the point. If there was one day in your life to be corny, it is probably your wedding day. Speaking of weddings, I am certainly no expert, so some things may be out of place and poorly executed. I suppose I should work on my fluff writing.**

 **I'm not entirely sure what I should do from here. My Smash story had a comparatively…underwhelming response. I have an idea for another Awakening story which seems fairly unique, and it should actually have Morgan who I don't like putting into stories without a reason for why she is there.**

 **Thank you for your support.**


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